Bitcoin’s Epic New High
Bitcoin, the original and biggest cryptocurrency, absolutely shattered its previous price records on Monday.
The digital cash soared to a new all-time high of $68,791, beating the prior record of $68,789 set back on November 10, 2021. This incredible new peak marks an awesome comeback for bitcoin after over two years of struggling and doubts about the future of cryptocurrencies altogether.
Entry of Big Money Supercharges the Rally
For the past several months, bitcoin’s monster rally has been supercharged by U.S. regulators giving the green light to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to bitcoin.
These ETFs create an easy on-ramp for traditional investors to get involved with bitcoin in their regular investment portfolios. The crypto industry had to lobby hard for years to convince the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to finally allow these bitcoin ETFs, which only happened after a court said the SEC’s reasons for rejecting them previously were unfair.
The first 11 “spot” bitcoin ETFs that track bitcoin’s real-time prices launched in January. In just one month, these new ETFs pulled in over $4.2 billion of new investor money, according to reports.
ETFs are investment products that track a basket of assets but trade like a regular stock, so investors can get bitcoin exposure through their normal brokerage accounts without needing crypto wallets.
Despite Challenges, Bitcoin Leads $2 Trillion Crypto Space Higher
Bitcoin is the trendsetter for the entire $2 trillion cryptocurrency industry, which has been rocked by scandals like companies going bankrupt, crazy price swings, and the criminal case against former crypto celebrity Sam Bankman-Fried who was convicted of stealing billions from clients’ accounts on his failed FTX exchange.
Despite those issues, bitcoin representing over half of all cryptocurrencies has skyrocketed over 200% higher in the past year based on CoinMarketCap data.
Crypto diehards are expecting even bigger gains ahead with the coming “halving” event every few years where new bitcoin rewards getting cut in half, increasing bitcoin’s scarcity intended to drive its price up.
